The Secret Behind the Yin and Yang
by chanchi76
Summary: Kazuma narrates the story about the other members of Yin and Yang.  He realizes how little he knows about the leader of the band, even though he is the most understanding of all four.  He decides to unlock a secret that was hidden from him when he joined.
1. The Secret

**This I just thought of while reading volumes 11 & 12 (the ones with Yin and Yang and Tsubasa and Kazuma's relationship). And since there aren't many Yin and Yang stories, I decided to work on one.**

**Kazuma isn't actually introduced into the story until later on, so for now, he'll be the narrator.**

* * *

Well, I think you already know who I am, Kazuma Shibahime, present day vocalist for the world famous band, Yin and Yang. I'm sure you already know the members of the band as well:

**Ushio-** The leader of Yin and Yang. He seems to care for me a lot more than any of the other members. He puts up with Atsuya and his daily drinking bouts and everything that goes along with it. He's the best bass guitar that I have ever seen (partially because he's the only one that I've seen…).

**Atsuya-** Both Atsuya and Ushio created the Yin and Yang band, they were the two starting members Ushio as the bass guitar and Atsuya as the guitar (not a good start). Atsuya likes to drink, whenever I see him, usually he is or getting ready to drink a can or bottle of alcohol. Atsuya is the comic relief of the band, he seems to like yelling and teasing me constantly before and after concerts.

**Martin**- The drummer of the band, he was in 'Visual Kei' before deciding that he wanted his fans to like his music, not his looks. His transformations always cause me to laugh; he looks totally different!

**Joker-** The youngest (apart from me) member of the Yin and Yang band. There is about a 6-year difference between Ushio (and Atsuya) and Joker (I don't know how much older Martin is). He plays the keyboard in the back with Martin. Like Atsuya, he likes to drink and is a bartender where I work now.

Well, the band members had a strange past that I didn't know about until recently. I guess Atsuya 'accidentally' let it slip that Ushio's ex-girlfriend was the one who made the band change the name to 'Yin and Yang'.

I didn't even think Ushio had a girlfriend. I mean, he did mention that he was in love once, but I didn't think he _actually _had a girlfriend. He just wasn't the type I guess.

Anyway, this was how the topic came up during one of our 'normal' practices.

* * *

"Alright! Let's get practicing!" Atsuya shouted in his own obnoxious way. Everyone except Kazuma ignored Atsuya and his orders. Ushio was tuning up his guitar; Martin was drinking with Joker on the table off the side. Kazuma had been talking to Ushio earlier.

"HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Atsuya roared, throwing a can of alcohol at the table. It missed both Joker and Martin by several feet, bounced off of the wall, and almost hit Ushio square in the head.

"Wow," Atsuya scratched his head. "I forgot how strong I really am…"

"You forgot?" Ushio picked up the can and Kazuma watched him, with interest, throw it straight back at Atsuya. It hit him on the forehead and fell the floor, where Kazuma picked it up and tossed it in the trash.

"YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A CONCUSSION!" Kazuma slapped his hands over his ears when Ushio started yelling. It wasn't often that the leader of Yin and Yang lost it, but when he did, it sounded like firecrackers.

The whole room erupted into chaos as alcohol cans were thrown every which way (Kazuma ducked twice), Joker and Martin were howling in laughter and banging the table. Martin fell of the table and started rolling on the floor.

It took several minutes for the entire group to calm down. By then, the room was a mess. Atsuya's hair was sticking up in different directions. Ushio's usually neatly tied hair had become an undone, tangled mess.

"Okay then, why don't we postpone this practice until tomorrow," Ushio coughed, slightly embarrassed that he had lost his own calm nature.

"Sounds good!" Atsuya waved another alcohol can in the air. Taking a huge swing, he looked over at Kazuma, "Hey Kazuma, did you ever get that cute little girl to like you?"

"Oh Tsubasa? Oh…well…yeah. We're engaged," Kazuma shrugged. Atsuya spit out the alcohol in his mouth, Ushio dropped his guitar case, Martin's mouth fell open, and Joker dropped an alcohol can.

"You're WHAT?" Kazuma covered his ears once more as all of the band members shouted.

"Well…uh…I'm happy for you," Ushio coughed again, his cheeks tinted pink. Atsuya elbowed him. "Uh, _we're _happy for you both."

"Thanks guys!" Kazuma grinned.

"Let's celebrate! With more alcohol!" Atsuya pulled out a whole new pack of alcohol from out of nowhere. They all took one, opened it and drank. Soon the room was filled with huge amounts of talking.

Kazuma immediately noticed that the leader wasn't paying attention or participating in the celebration. He was now sitting at the table that Martin and Joker abandoned.

"What's wrong with Ushio-san?" he asked the nearest member, which happened to be Atsuya.

"Oh, him? He's _quiet._ You know, he's just…uh…embarrassed," the member took another long drink.

"Of what?" the youngest member wondered, he didn't mean to pry, but he was curious to know why Ushio wasn't participating. Usually he would be in the group as well, not spaced out like now.

"Or he could be deeply ashamed," Atsuya wasn't paying attention to Kazuma anymore. The effect of the alcohol was finally taking its toll on the guitar player.

"He dumped his girlfriend a few years ago, I thought she was pretty gorgeous if I say so…made us lose three rounds in a row…"

"Huh?" Kazuma watched as Atsuya wandered over to his best friend and almost hit him on the head.

"Isn't that right, Ushio?" Atsuya grinned. "Kazuma beat you—". Kazuma blinked and missed what happened next,

Atsuya went flying and the door slammed shut, Ushio was gone.

"What happened to him?" Martin asked, untangling him from the mess of limbs. It seemed as if Atsuya had fallen on top of both Martin and Joker, only Joker was out cold.

"Atsuya," Kazuma immediately pointed at the beer-happy guitarist.

"Kazuma!" Atsuya wasn't totally drunk yet and he pointed at Kazuma. Both of them sweatdropped and looked at each other.

"Atsuya asked Ushio about his girlfriend!" Kazuma accused.

"Kazuma wanted to know!"

"Well, that is a touchy subject with our leader," Martin folded his arms. "Might as well tell Kazuma now, instead of trying to waste years trying to get it out of Ushio."

"What happened?" Kazuma sat on the ground in front of Martin, waiting to hear the story.

"Well, this happened about a year before you became an official member. It was around the time when Yin and Yang were unnamed…" Martin started droning on, his only audience was Kazuma. Atsuya was yawning, and Joker was still out cold.

* * *

So that's how I figured out that the Yin and Yang members had a lot more to hide than their appearance from the public.

I found Ushio later on that day. He was walking around the shopping district; his face clearly showed that he was lonely. It was kind of strange, seeing him walk around aimlessly. Actually, it was strange to see him wandering around a normal shopping district in the first place, seeing how he was always busy with Yin and Yang's concerts.

* * *

"Ushio-san!" Kazuma ran up to the lone band member. He found it unusual that the leader of Yin and Yang would wander around with his hair untied and flowing in the breeze.

Only when they went to the beach did Kazuma see Ushio untie his hair. But he wasn't near a beach at all, and he wasn't going to jump in the river, which meant that something was bothering the older man.

"Ushio-san!" he grabbed his sleeve. Ushio turned and looked down at Kazuma and opened his mouth to speak.

"Kazuma!" a familiar voice called out from behind. Kazuma turned and saw…Ushio walking up to him…his hair was tied up.

Instead of the look of sadness that the man Kazuma and grabbed, the Ushio behind him wore a look of concern, one that he usually reserved for Kazuma during his troubled times.

"What are you doing here?" Ushio put his hand on Kazuma's shoulder and looked down at him.

Kazuma didn't answer. Instead, he lifted his hand and pointed at the man in front of him.

Both men looked at each other, each daring the other to make their first move.

"Come on Kazuma," Ushio finally pulled Kazuma away. "Let's get back to the apartment."

"But—" Kazuma threw one last look over his shoulder at the other Ushio.

"What would you like to eat for dinner?" the Ushio leading him away quickly changed the subject, realizing that Kazuma was looking at the man they left behind over his shoulder.

The other Ushio still had an air of sadness around him. His long black hair blew in the breeze that the wind from the river had picked up. Kazuma watched him turn and look over the balcony over the river.

* * *

So that's how I found out about Ushio's well-kept secret. He had kept it a secret for many years; something must have made him ashamed of his previous girlfriend.

The next day, Ushio had left early to speak with the manager of the stadium where we were going to perform in, leaving me alone in the apartment with Atsuya.

Atsuya decided to fill me in with information regarding Ushio's strange behavior, obviously he had been trying to keep it a secret from me.

* * *

"Well Joker never would have known if I hadn't told him," Atsuya muttered, a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and his arms above his head. Kazuma was sitting attentively in front of him, waiting for him to continue on with the story.

"Back then, it was only Ushio, martin, and me," he murmured sleepily. "We were an unnamed band. We played in several contests regarding how well our music was to get a good record deal. But in every concert that we went to, we always lost to the same band: Rythmatics. They were the best band that we ever crossed."

"What does this have to do with Ushio-san?" Kazuma wondered, starting to get impatient.

"I'm getting there!" Atsuya busied himself by opening yet another can of beer.

"Anyway, the first time we played the Rythmatics band was in the same stadium where we're going to play tomorrow. The Rythmatics band plays dirty. One of the members took Ushio's place during the concert, messed up our rep. And we lost." He took a swing of beer. "We lost every time after that for about a year."

Kazuma's mouth fell open. Yin and Yang lost a music competition? They were so popular now!

"Well, it was sunny day, everyone was in high hopes that we'd be able to 'wow' the judges during the concert…" Atsuya started telling his story.

* * *

**Well there's the end of the first chapter, hope it looked okay. If I exaggerated some of the character's attitudes, then I'm sorry. Chapter 2 will be out soon, I promise!**

**Please Review!**

**edited 07/23/07**


	2. Rhythmatics

**Here's the second chapter of the story. Thanks for the review Princess Miyazawa!**

**Disclaimer: all Kare Kano works belong to Masami Tsuda **

**This chapter will actually go into the past, where the band isn't Yin and Yang (more will be explained later). And I spelled the Rhythmatics band wrong (I spelled it 'Rythmatics' instead of adding an 'H').**

**

* * *

**

Now I never knew that Yin and Yang were not always called Yin and Yang, if you know what I mean. I actually took it for granted that they were always popular with the fans of the Indie scene. But I was sadly mistaken...some bands played dirty for revenge during concerts that were extremely important, especially the ones with record deals.

And I didn't stop to think that the unnamed new bands often didn't recieve very good backstage rooms. Atsuya, Ushio, and Martin ended up getting a room similar to a large broom closet.

* * *

"Well, we're going to go up next," Ushio was leaning against some of the many boxes in the storage room (it was the only room available for them). His hands were in his pocket and his hair was flowing down his shoulders. Instead of being nervous, he was wearing a calm, gentle expression. 

"We can do this!" Atsuya screamed. Screaming was the only way that Atsuya knew how to calm down before a concert. Martin rolled his eyes at Atsuya's behavior and continued to drink.

"I'll be back in a minute," Ushio started walking out of the room. "Bathroom."

He walked past the doors leading to the other bands that had or were going to participate in the concert. He had been surprised that their band had even gotten in to this concert.

Atsuya, Martin, and himself were an unnamed band at the moment; no name had ever come to them. They were at the most popular concert in the Indie scene; the winner of the concert received a record deal, one their band needed to be able to get money.

"Hey are you Ushio of that unnamed band?" a voice startled him. He didn't think anybody would know who he was since the band was not well known. He turned and found himself looking at a mirror. Or was it a mirror?

There was a rush of movement to his right. He turned quickly, but saw nothing once more. Then pain exploded from the back of his head. He fell forward and crumpled on the ground.

The 'mirror', which turned out to be another Ushio stepped forward and touched his cheek…almost tenderly.

"Did we have to do that?" the figure asked nervously. "Somebody could have seen—".

"It's all right. Just do what we told you to do," a tall man with brown hair walked up to him. "I'll take care of this—". He nudged Ushio with his foot.

"We're up after their band," the second Ushio murmured. The man looked up at him.

"I'll be done before then," he promised. When 2.Ushio didn't move, he smiled and gently punched his arm.

"When have I ever went against my word?"

"Never," he murmured before turning around and going back to their backstage room.

The man looked down at Ushio's still figure before pulling out cords from left over microphones or spare plugs.

"Can't have you interrupting during this part of the plan," he muttered as he started binding Ushio.

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"Where's Ushio?" Atsuya screamed. "We're up in a few minutes!"

"He said he was going to the bathroom," Martin said impatiently. "Though, I do wonder why he isn't back yet…"

"Hey! You guys are up!" a man in his early twenties waved to them from the door.

"But we're missing our leader!" Martin pointed out. "Give us some more time."

"The show can't wait," the man argued. They both noticed that sweat was pouring down his red cheeks. "Go, Go, Go!" he ushered them both out.

"Your equipment is already on stage!"

"But we're missing—" the man had left and they were standing alone in front of the stage door.

"Well…are we going to get his over with?" Atsuya asked nervously. They could hear the crowd cheering in the audience. "Without Ushio, there are only two of us…"

"But you're the lead singer," Martin had already gone through his transformation, looking like his Visual Kei days.

"But still!" the stage door opened and the previous band walked out looking slightly cheerier than when they first started playing. Atsuya & Martin looked at one another, then they both nodded and stepped up to the stage.

* * *

"You played without him?" Kazuma gasped. His eyes were huge.

"They did and they lost." Atsuya spit out the beer in his mouth. Kazuma looked up. Ushio gave him a small smile. "Telling my story without me?"

Atsuya muttered something before standing up.

"Kazuma, why don't we go get some food to eat? Atsuya's going to stay here," Ushio watched as Atsuya's mouth fell open in shock.

"Sure," Kazuma didn't know where this conversation was going. "I guess I'm a bit hungry."

OoOoOoOo

"So what do you want to know?" Ushio asked. Kazuma turned pink and started stammering out apologies and excuses.

"I don't mind if you ask," he seemed to be taking this pretty easily. It was strange because just yesterday he almost killed Atsuya for reminding him. "I could tell you all about that time if you would like."

Kazuma bobbled his head up and down for his answer.

* * *

Ushio woke in darkness. He tried to move his arms, but found that they were tightly bound by what appeared to be, spare microphone cables.

Beyond the door, he could hear Atsuya's off-key singing and struggled more violently to untie himself. If he was here, then who was playing onstage in his place? Then he realized that something was different, the song was offbeat. One of the parts were missing…

There were many 'boo's in the audience. Obviously they didn't like the music, since the last member was currently tied up in a broom closet.

The song ended and the audience was quite happy for it. The announcer came onto the stage and thanked their band for the effort and introduced the next band.

"Give a round of applause for the next group, Japan's no. 1 band, Rhythmatics!" earsplitting cheers where heard through the walls of the small broom closet. The crowd cheered and introduced the band members by themselves without the help of the announcer.

"Renji!"

"Henry!"

"Kenji!"

"Tsuyoshi!"

"Ushio!"

The screams drowned out several loud _'thumps'_ from the next room, the room that supposedly had Atsuya and Martin inside.

Rhythmatics started playing, and from what Atsuya and Martin had sounded like earlier, the winner was clear.

The song ended and cheers were heard all over the stadium, the boxes next to Ushio started shaking and vibrating because of the volume.

Furious with himself for being so weak, he ripped off the cables and made a mental note never to become lead singer. He never wanted to be in Atsuya's shoes.

The door wasn't even locked, and no one bothered with him as he made his way back to the room.

He found Atsuya fiddling with a pack of cigarettes; he looked furious and sad at the same time. Martin had his back to the door when he entered, staring up at the wall absently.

"What did I miss?" Ushio asked blandly, unsure of what to say. Atsuya took the time to toss the cigarette box at him before talking.

"You never told us you were in Rhythmatics."

"But I'm not!" he went on and explained why he wasn't at the stage area on time. When he had finished, Atsuya looked nervous and Martin still continued to ignore him.

"Well, well, well. Are these the sore losers?" a familiar voice asked from the doorway.

"Henry!" Atsuya snapped, recognizing the lead singer from Rhythmatics immediately. "You cheated!"

"Did not," the tall male ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. "We just planned to take revenge, that's all. Why don't you come join Rhythmatics? After all, if your 'leader' cannot even get on the stage, what's the use of being a band?"

"You kidnapped Ushio!" Atsuya accused him.

"No, we just accidentally and conveniently knocked him out. Nothing else." The other members of Rhythmatics walked up to their leader.

"Henry, let's go. Renji and I want to get home," the keyboard player, Kenji, complained.

"We're going now. Nice to see you two again. Atsuya. Ushio. See you later," Henry smirked and left with his band members.

When they had left, Atsuya broke the awkward silence, "Why would I join them?" he demanded. "I want to stay with Ushio."

There was more silence as each of the members started putting away their instruments. Then someone coughed, but it wasn't any of the three.

Ushio stood up quickly and saw…himself…standing at the doorway. Was it a mirror this time?

Atsuya gave a yell of surprise at the other Ushio, and Martin muttered, "Interesting," before continuing to clean up.

"Yes?" Ushio knew at once that this was the person that played 'Ushio' in the Rhythmatics band.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I'm sorry about earlier…and Henry's behavior." Even his voice sounded similar.

"Why are you apologizing?" Ushio asked calmly to his surprise, the man smiled and blushed a little.

"I think you're a really good person, Ushio. But Henry…well…you might know how he is. I've looked up to you for some time." For some reason, this sounded funny coming from a Rhythmatics member.

"Oh. Well. Thanks," Ushio didn't really know what else to say to him. It was strange looking at someone that looked, sounded, and acted just like you.

The other man smiled and left the room without another word.

"So…do you believe me now?" he turned around and faced Atsuya.

"I believed you from the beginning. It was just interesting to see you struggle to get my trust back," Atsuya chuckled. Ushio's cheeks turned pink.

"You mean, you watched me struggle like that?" he demanded. "I was afraid that you wouldn't believe me!"

"Well, I believed you, so can we go now? I want something to eat," Atsuya shrugged. Ushio vented his feelings by throwing a beer can at him.

* * *

"So that's how you went on your losing streak?" Kazuma asked, already interested in the story.

"I wouldn't call it our _losing_ streak," Ushio chuckled. "Just a time when we met our match."

"So what happened to Rhythmatics now? I've never heard of them until now," He tried to think of whether or not he knew what band that was.

"Rhythmatics went to Kyoto to play. I haven't heard or seen them for years. Good thing too, we're getting popular," Ushio turned and let the wind run through his hair. "Haven't heard from Reina since they left."

"Reina?" Kazuma searched his mind for a face,

"You don't know her," he said after he watched Kazuma strain for a picture. "She's my ex-girlfriend. I think she's around your age. Seventeen or eighteen, I think."

Kazuma's mouth fell open. Ushio used to be with a girl that was still in school? He knew that one of Tsubasa's friends—Maho, he thought it was— had a boyfriend that worked as a dentist. Then again, he was only 23, and Ushio was 27.

"Is there something wrong?" Ushio noticed Kazuma's silence.

"Seventeen?" he asked slowly. "Really?"

"She was a lot younger when I first met her," he said quickly. "I didn't know it who she was then."

"You didn't know how old she was either, right?" Kazuma figured it was a safe question to ask.

"She is 10 years younger than me. I can't take care of her when I'm the leader of Yin and Yang. Her parents weren't too pleased to see me when I was introduced. They had the same views as everyone else."

"What was that?" Kazuma already knew the answer, but he felt like asking it.

"That she was too young to be in a serious relationship with me. Her schooling always came first, before her band and before me. But even I knew that she was too young to be getting into a serious relationship. So I… broke up with her." He ended that note in a bitter tone.

Kazuma remained silent as he comprehended what he had just been told. Obviously, there was still more untold facts in the story…

* * *

**End of chapter 2. Sorry it took longer than I thought it did. I had it all written out, but I didn't have time to actually type it up and upload it onto the site.**

**Please Review!!**

**edited 08/03/07**


	3. Reina

**Here's Chapter 3, once again, sorry for the wait. I had it all written out, I just didn't want to deal with typing it all up.**

* * *

By now, I figured out that during the time that Ushio was with his girlfriend, Reina, Yin and Yang had been in its worst year (except they weren't called Yin and Yang and Joker wasn't with them).

They received another loss. Rhythmatics got all of the record deals that they wanted. The band was definitely low on funds.

I knew (and I promised myself) that I would never leave Tsubasa because of what people thought. But Tsubasa wasn't 10 years younger than me; that created yet another problem…

So I asked Ushio, how he solved _that_ problem. It was simple, really, when he explained it to me. Nothing _really_ difficult…just problematic…

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The band had lost another concert competition after that. Rhythmatics just didn't want them to win. The other Ushio still continued to play his part extremely well. And every time, Ushio seemed to mysteriously vanish from the room. There was no question why; they all knew Rhythmatics was behind his disappearance.

"I'm tired of this cheap play!" Atsuya shouted after the second concert.

"You're tired of singing in front of the audience with an incomplete band. I'm just tired of getting knocked out, and I was only knocked out twice," Ushio rubbed his head. "Do you have any aspirin?"

Atsuya shook his head and continued to talk,

"We'll fix it," he scratched his head. "We'll go to a concert where they aren't participating in. Hopefully we'll get what we want from that concert."

"Ushio!" Martin ran into the room. He had been previously talking to their manager outside the room. "This cute girl wants to speak with you outside! You're always the one with the pretty fans! I just get the rest!"

"Martin, you get plenty of girls, just open your eyes," Ushio sighed as he grabbed his coat and left the room.

Martin was right, the girl _was_ pretty. Her black eyes were big and curious; her black hair was flowing loosely on her shoulders. Her pale skin stood out more in the falling snow, it didn't seem as if her scarf was doing much good to her.

"Miss?" he walked to her uncertainly. She turned and smiled at him.

"Ushio?" she asked, her breath coming out in small mists. "Ushio from the band concert?"

"You wanted to talk to me?" to his surprise, the girl blushed. She reminded him of something else, someone he couldn't remember…

"Yes…I…don't know ho to put this…"she stammered nervously.

"Let's go get something to eat! It'll be warmer inside," he took her arm and started pulling her down the street.

"I-I couldn't! That would be—I would be burden on you!" she made several more excuses and even attempted to run away, but Ushio continued to tug her to the nearest restaurant.

"You're not a burden," he told her once they entered the warmer restaurant. "It's my treat. That way, you have all dinner to tell me why you called me. Think of it as payback for making you wait outside in the cold."

"No! I wasn't waiting too long!" she gasped. "Please don't think you owe me something!"

"I insist. And I'm pretty hungry at the moment as well," He handed her the menu that the waiter gave to them. There was an awkward silence. "You look very pretty tonight." He had tried to engage her into an interesting conversation.

"Oh, thank you!" she blushed again. Ushio was wondering how many shads of red a woman could have.

They spent an interesting dinner together; Ushio learned that her name was 'Reina Sumeragi' and she was part of an exchange student program that would send her to New York for a month.

"I'll pay for that," she reached out for the bill that the waiter had placed on the table.

"No, I'll take it," Ushio moved quickly and grasped her hand in his. It was then that he realized how small her hands were compared to his. "I'll take it."

He pulled the bill out of her hands gently.

"But I can't have you pay everything!" she cried out, turning yet another shade of red.

"You're my guest, remember?" she opened and closed her mouth, but she couldn't find a single thing to say against that comment.

"Reina?" she looked up from her empty dessert plate as Ushio called out her name. "Hopefully this won't be that last time that we meet."

"Huh?" she looked surprised.

"You never actually told me why you needed to talk to me," she lowered her head and turned red from embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she bowed low. "I just—I—"

"You could tell me some other time," he patted her head gently. "Right now, let's walk you home." He placed the amount on the check tray and got up from the table.

"Oh! You don't need to be doing _that_!" she gasped. "I could walk by myself. It isn't that far away!"

"It won't hurt me," he took a hold of her elbow and led her out of the restaurant.

"Why does Ushio get_ everything_?" Atsuya wailed after he and Martin saw the couple leave the restaurant. They had been following the pair since the beginning of their 'date'.

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"I saw Reina for a month, until she actually decided to tell me how old she was," Ushio sighed. "I realized that she was too young for me and tried to send her off. But she's much harder to shake off than anyone else you've ever met."

"How old was she?" Kazuma asked as Ushio took a long drink of water.

"Reina was almost 13 when she told me. It was a terrible shock and a mistake. I was 22-years-old, and I was dating a child—not a_ woman_ but a _child_!"

"Wow…" Kazuma couldn't think of anything else to say. "When did this all happen? I don't remember any of this." Ushio paused for a minute as he thought about his answer.

"Before Joker joined us. And before our name was Yin and Yang. Actually, even before we were popular, that was a long time ago really. Reina should be older than you by a few months, so…"

"Everyone's older than me!" Kazuma wailed. Ushio chuckled and patted his back gently.

'_He reminds me of Reina. Maybe that's why I brought him into the band.'_ He thought with amusement, remembering the details from several years ago.

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"Ushio, why are you bringing her along?" Atsuya asked. He was referring to Reina, who was seated next to him in their van.

"Because we're going somewhere after practice," he answered automatically.

"Oh, there's a practice today?" Atsuya scratched his head. "I didn't know that."

"That's why we're all going there!" Ushio grumbled. He calmed down slightly when Reina leaned forward and put her hand on his arm gently.

"Where are we going then?" she asked.

"Surprise," he said as the van turned into the driveway of the studio where they practiced.

OoOoOoOoOo

It was after practice, and the band plus Reina were wandering around a rich residential area. All of the houses along the street were huge, and very well tended.

"What are we doing here?" Reina asked. Ushio realized at once that her gentle voice had lost its edge and now sounded sharp and bitter.

"We're visiting your house," he answered, he felt her hand slide into his and he grasped her hand, reassuring her.

"I don't want to go," she suddenly stopped on the sidewalk. Atsuya and Martin stopped as well, curious to know what had happened.

"Reina?" he asked. He pulled her hand towards him, but she refused to move her feet.

"I don't want to go visit my parents," she said coldly. "And when did you find out—"

"The phone book," Ushio answered. " 'Sumeragi' isn't a very common name you know."

"Why do you want to meet them? Aren't I enough?" she sounded hysterical. "Why do you need to meet them?"

"I want to talk to them about you. You don't live at home do you? I wanted to know why."

"You could just ask me!" she cried out. "Why can't you just ask me!?"

"Your parents have one version and you have the other, Reina," he tried to get her to understand his reasoning.

"No!" she stamped her foot. "I don't want to go back _there_!"

"Reina, I really think I should go meet them. After all, I _am_ an adult. You're still in school. Don't you think they should—"

"No!" she shook her head.

"Stubborn," Atsuya muttered behind her. She whirled around and glared at him.

"Reina, whether you like it or not, it's only right to take you back home. Or we'll get arrested for trying to molest a girl late at night," Ushio walked forward and picked her up. She kicked him and shouted, but he ignored her protests and carried her down the street.

"Ushio, _you'll_ get arrested for doing that," Atsuya pointed out. "She's causing a fit."

"We're here anyway," he had stopped at the gates of a large house. Reina had stopped making a fuss about being carried and was silent. But she continued to noiselessly kick Ushio.

"Martin, can you go up?" he asked helplessly as he tightened his grip on Reina, who was now struggling to escape. The shorter band member nodded and opened the gate for both Ushio and Atsuya. He stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell.

The door opened and a plump, cheerful woman opened the door.

"Sorry for bothering you," Ushio apologized. But the woman didn't seem to hear him. She seemed to be transfixed on the girl that he was carrying.

"Reina?" she gasped. Ushio tightened the grip on her legs, for she had begun to kick once more in an effort to escape.

"Hi mom," she turned her head to look at her mother sulkily.

"What's wrong? Is it one of those door-to-door salespeople?" a man looked over her head. He looked taller than Reina's mother, and had very similar features to Reina herself, looking much older than he actually was.

"Sumeragi-sensei?" Atsuya asked, his eyes widening slightly. Ushio's eyebrows went up as well.

"Atsuya-kun and Ushio-san?" the man took off his glasses and cleaned them worriedly. He glanced at Ushio and realized that he was holding his daughter, preventing her from running away.

"Why don't you all come on?" Reina's mother laughed softly, hiding her shock at seeing the group of them at the doorstop.

"Uh, sure. I guess," Martin turned to Ushio, an annoyed expression crossing his face. Martin obviously was against this meeting. Reina gave one last kick before giving up, realizing that he wasn't going to let her go.

When they entered the living room, only Reina's mother was sitting on the couch, her hands were on her lap as she stared at the carpet.

Ushio let Reina down and pushed her onto the couch across from her mother and sat next to her. Atsuya and Martin were standing behind him awkwardly since they didn't have a seat to sit on.

"The last time I saw you two was at Graduation. I was shocked to learn that _you_ weren't going to college, Ushio-san," Mr. Sumeragi placed a tray of tea on the table in front of them. "You were one of the smartest students at the school. Of course, you decided to follow your music career instead of moving on and becoming a doctor like your parents wanted you to be."

Atsuya fidgeted silently but he looked up at him as well and started going on about Atsuya's school life.

"Atsuya-kun, you were a trouble-making boy. You followed Ushio constantly, and many times I hoped that his intelligence would rub off on you. But it didn't," he sighed. "You followed Ushio out of school, and followed him in his music. And I hope that you two still are." He looked at them both sternly. Atsuya nodded quickly. "And I don't know who you are." He was looking at Martin now.

"He's in our band. Martin. He was originally from Visual Kei," Atsuya explained quickly.

"I see," their old headmaster did seem to understand and fell silent, allowing his wife to speak.

"I thank you for bringing our daughter home," she started; her eyes were on Reina, who deftly ignored her and looked out the window. "You must understand what it's like to have your own children run off without you knowing."

"Uh, no," he chuckled nervously. "I'm not married yet." Mrs. Sumeragi's cheerful face lost some of its cheerfulness.

"Well, thank you for bringing her back home," she regained her composure quickly. Reina turned her head and looked her mother in the eye.

"Mom, you've got the wrong idea," she reached over and grasped Ushio's hand. "I'm dating him now."

"You—uh—what?" both of her parents were thunderstruck.

"But Reina, isn't he…a little too _old _for you? You're still in school. You're too young to have a boyfriend that's out of school," Mr. Sumeragi asked nervously. Sweat beads started forming on his head.

"Reina…" her mother seemed at loss for words. Then she swelled up in anger and started lecturing both her daughter and Ushio at the same time.

"Reina, you're still underage, you're not even an adult! And _you_, dating a girl who's still a _child_! Where did your common sense go?!"

"Mom, I think that being underage and not even an adult mean the same thing," Reina spoke up.

_SMACK_!

Reina fell backwards as her mother struck her. A large and ugly red mark was on her cheek.

"You ungrateful—!" she raised her hand again, but her husband reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could strike her daughter again.

"Kaoryu!"

"You ungrateful girl! I raised you and this is how you pay me back?! You go out with a man who probably will leave you later on because he wasn't interested in you?!"

"No, I wouldn't do that—" Ushio started, but he was cut off once more by Reina's mother.

"Reina, you're only 12! You can't go around with older men!" she shouted. "I didn't want you to join that band, but you persisted and I finally gave in because you were happy with them!"

She stopped shouting and calmed down. Her face was red and she glared daggers at Ushio.

"What's all of the shouting about Auntie Kaoryu?" a voice at the top of the stairs asked. They turned and saw a boy with dark red hair walking down the stairs.

"Oh! Reina!" he ran down the rest of the steps and jumped at Reina, hugging her tightly.

"Kenji!" another man ran down the stairs. "Don't _do_ that to Reina! She doesn't like it if you cling to her like that!"

"No, it's okay," Reina laughed as she patted the boy's hair.

"Hey, what's with all the commotion?" another man ran down the stairs. He stood in the doorway of the living room awkwardly, having just caught sight of Ushio on the couch next to Kenji.

"Henry?!" Atsuya yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting Auntie Kaoryu and Uncle Kosuke," Kenji answered for Henry.

"You're related to Reina?!" he shouted.

"No, he just calls them that," the man nearest to the couch spoke up.

"Tsuyoshi," Reina answered the question before Atsuya could ask it. She turned towards Henry. "Where's Renji?"

"Coming in a minute, he's in the bathroom," he answered.

"Reina, you know the members of Rhythmatics?" Ushio asked.

"Know? Of course she knows us! She's the second lead singer!" Henry snapped. "She's the one who helped us with all of those—"

"Henry!" Tsuyoshi shouted. Henry fell silent; all eyes went directly to Reina.

"Reina, did you plot this?" Ushio asked. "You didn't right?" Reina didn't answer, neither did she turn and face him. She kept her eyes down at the carpet, mindlessly patting Kenji's head like a dog.

"Reina did the whole thing," Henry threw his hands over his head.

"Henry!" Tsuyoshi warned him.

"What's the difference, he has to know. He'll find out eventually who's been taking his place during the concerts," Henry turned his back to Ushio. "Reina's been getting dressed up to play your part during the concerts. But Tsuyoshi and me were the ones knocking you out; we didn't want to dirty her hands like that."

"Didn't want to dirty—" there was a pause as all eyes when on Reina, who shrank further down in her seat.

"Tsuyoshi found Reina on the streets just last year. The only thing that she was covered in was some rags and a white sheet. Not very promising, believe me. The last thing the four of us wanted was a girl to stay with us when she couldn't uphold her pay. But Tsuyoshi molded her so she could be like us, of course, we all preferred her to become a model, but she chose to join the band instead."

"Please, don't look at me that way!" Reina suddenly let go of Kenji and grabbed onto Ushio's sleeve. "I—this wasn't my plan! Henry and Tsuyoshi—"

"Well, she's right on that one. I _did_ tell her to do that. I told her that if she altered her appearance to look like her, it'd up our record deals and payments. Then she could leave home and live on her own."

"Reina, you wanted to leave all this time?" her mother was quieter. Her daughter was silent.

"Yes." She finally answered. "I don't want to stay here anymore. I'm treated differently that way. I even moved schools to get away from the people who used to tease me about living here. I was teased by having my father as the school headmaster. I didn't want to be part of that anymore."

"But Reina, we gave you everything!" Kaoryu wailed. "Everything you wanted!"

"I think, it's time for you guys to leave," Tsuyoshi whispered in Ushio's ear. "We'll take Reina to our apartment for now. Come back when you want her back."

"Come on, its no use staying here for now," Atsuya and Martin grabbed hold of both of Ushio's arms and pulled him up.

"Yeah, go on. We'll see you sometime else. Maybe the next concert," Henry crossed his arms. "Come on Reina." He pulled her to her feet.

"Ushio," she looked over at her 'boyfriend'.

"Later, Reina. Just give him some time," Kenji reached out and grasped her hand quickly after Tsuyoshi said this. "Henry was a little bit hard on him in giving him the facts."

"Yeah, see you later," Martin waved as he and Atsuya pulled Ushio out the front door.

Reina stood up and stared at the front door, she paled silently. Kenji clung to her hand and another redhead came down the stairs and clung to her other hand as well.

"Reina, where are you going tonight?" her father turned towards her.

"I—" she watched the closed door, as if hoping it would open again.

"She's coming with us, Mr. Sumeragi. If that's okay with you," Tsuyoshi placed a hand on her head.

He looked over at Reina, and then at his wife before nodding slowly.

"Fine."

* * *

**Sorry it's so late! I just couldn't think of a good way to end this, and it's still not a good ending!! Please forgive me!**

edited 08/31/07


	4. The Truth

Now I knew why this story was hidden from me. It was a difficult thing for Ushio to remember, so all he did was try to forget it. And he was successful, until _I_ had tried to pry into his private life. All of those unpleasant memories were resurfaced.

He was in pain, and even I didn't know how to help him out. Nobody knew how to help him out, only the person who had made him this way knew. But she wasn't here anymore…nobody knew where she was…

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"I knew that Reina wouldn't let go of me that easily. I just didn't expect her to go to such…drastic measures to make sure she didn't lose the fight against her parents. She already knew where Atsuya and I were living so it was simple…"

Kazuma didn't say anything. Even though the food had just been given to them, it remained untouched. Ushio had his head in his arms, Kazuma couldn't see his face now, but he knew that he was close to tears.

"Reina…Reina…she…slept in front of our apartment building. It was nearing the end of winter, but—" he stopped speaking. Kazuma closed his eyes and tried to imagine the feeling of being outside with snow with no warm wrappings to block out the cold. He shivered just by the thought of it.

"She was fine of course, but…" he hesitated once more. "She just didn't understand how I felt once I realized that she was part of the band that sabotaged the concerts. And adding to that cost, she was underage."

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Ushio stepped outside his apartment building. He had left Atsuya sleeping in his futon, the heater blasting through their apartment. His red scarf was tied snuggly on his neck, but a blast of cold air still came though and made him shiver.

He was walking down the steps when he noticed a small crowd on the grass. Wondering what they were all looking at, he slowly pushed through the crowd until he got to their point of interest.

"What happened?"

"She looks frozen."

"Is she dead?"

"Where are her parents?"

The murmuring stopped once Ushio shoved past and knelt on the cold grass. Reina was lying on the grass, her lips were a dark shade a blue and her cheeks white.

"Reina?" he lifted her up careful and whispered her name in her ear. She mumbled something but didn't bother to move.

"Do you know her?" the crowd pressed in further.

"Reina. Why did you come?" he stood up and ran his hand over her pale cheeks. She was cold; her entire body felt of ice.

"He must have forgotten about her."

"How shameful."

"The girl's going to die."

The crowd started talking in a different mood. Their words went up against Ushio, who was busy trying to warm the small girl in his arms up.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Atsuya, being the lifesaver that he was, shoved through the crowd again.

"A child is dead," one of the bystanders replied.

"Really?" he looked over at Ushio who shook his head a fraction of an inch. He gritted his teeth as he thought about what to do next before forcing a path through the crowd. "All right, move along, we're going in right now, don't bother to call the police or follow us up. We'll be fine!"

Several of the onlookers pressed in further when Ushio made his way through the crowd, but Atsuya pushed them away again. It took a few more moments before they reached the door of their apartment complex.

"Thanks," he murmured to his friend as he walked inside first. Atsuya winked and gave him the 'thumbs up' sign.

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Reina's eyes opened slowly, then she blinked and looked up at the ceiling. She was lying on a small futon; she realized quickly that her clothes were changed. She had been wearing pants, a tank top and a small sweater before, but that had changed and she was now wearing baggy jeans and a too-large polo shirt.

She sat up and looked at her surroundings. The room was familiar to her, but before she could figure out why, there was a knock at the door and it slid open.

"You okay?" Ushio stepped into the room, holding a tray with two steaming mugs. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," she nodded and he walked over and sat down on the futon. She folded her knees up and looked at him.

"Don't do that ever again."

"What?" her eyes widened slightly.

"Don't do that ever again," he turned towards her this time. He was angry, but his eyes were full of worry. "Don't _ever_ do that again!"

"I wanted to visit you," she smiled, not taking his order seriously.

"Then visit me when I could let you in the room! Don't go to sleep outside the building! Its still winter! Do you have any common sense!?"

"Sorry," she wilted. "I just wanted to come back and visit you. You left kind of fast yesterday."

"Did you have to do what Henry asked of you?" he asked in a much quieter tone. Reina looked and glanced at him. Ushio was still not facing her.

"I thought…that if I didn't…then they might…send me back…" she replied in a low voice.

"Send you back where? To your home? Where your parents were worried about you?" Reina turned red and buried her head in her arms.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"You're hopeless," Ushio sighed finally turning around and putting a hand on her head. "You almost freeze to death and here I am scolding you on not going home."

Reina lifted her head and her eyes met his. He smiled and handed her one of the mugs that he had brought in.

"Something to heat you up. I don't think you're _completely_ back to normal." She grinned and took a sip, only to recoil in disgust.

"What's _in_ here?" she gagged lifting the cup up to eye-level.

"Coffee from one of our favorite places," he lifted his own mug up and drank some more. "You don't like it?"

"I don't like coffee," she retorted, placing the mug on the floor. Ushio snorted, she raised her eyebrows at him curiously but he stifled his laughter and managed a small smile.

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They shared their first kiss that night, a long and passionate one. The moon was full that night, and the light shone through the window on the futon where they were lying.

He leaned forward and his lips met the cool skin on her neck. He kissed her neck tenderly, and felt a shiver rush through her. She moaned softly and ran her hand over his back.

He turned his head and kissed her on the lips, she greatly accepted this and pulled him closer. Clouds covered the moon, making the room darker than before. Several minutes past before the clouds passed,

"Ushio." The moon once again shone through the window as he was laying on top her of her, resting. But once she spoke his name, he propped himself up with his elbows and looked down at her.

"Hm?" he could barely see her black eyes, but he knew that they were sparkling. Her small face was probably tinted a very nice pink color and she was sweating. He leaned down once again and kissed her small pink lips.

"Ushio," her voice was soft, he leaned in further to catch everything she said.

"I love you."

* * *

**That's the end of chapter 4, sorry for taking so long and it's really short, but I had no idea how to type up the last section of the story.**

**Please Review!**

**edited 10/10/07**


	5. Conflict

**Sorry for the long wait (**_**again**_**). And that last chapter wasn't very good, didn't make a good impression of the story really. Most of the story has Ushio beating himself up emotionally for dating a 12-13-year old girl when he was around 21.**

**Kazuma has gone on a small trip so he won't be narrating for some time so it's in Ushio's P.O.V.

* * *

**

That entire night was a mistake, now that I look at it; there were so many things that could have happened as a result of that one night with her.

I don't know if she regretted it, but I know that I did. It just never registered during the night.

OoOoOoOo

Ushio woke up with the sun streaming through the window on his face. He stared at the ceiling quietly. Then realizing what time of day it was, he made to sit up but the weight on his chest forced him back down.

He looked down and immediately noticed Reina sleeping soundly on his chest, her long black hair spread messily over the covers of the futon they were both sharing. Images of the night before came back to him quickly enough.

He slammed his head on the floor without bothering to care and groaned loudly, startling the sleeping girl.

"Huh? What's wrong?" she mumbled, sitting up quickly. "Ushio, what was that noise?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. But inside, he was thinking the exact opposite.

"Something's bothering you," she looked at him curiously. "You just aren't telling me."

"Nothing's wrong," he put on a fake smile, hoping that she wouldn't pry any further.

"You're worried about last night," she said sulkily.

"Not really…"

"Wasn't I good enough for you?" she demanded. Ushio wilted. This was probably her first time having a boyfriend. But still…

"Are you in junior high?" he asked. Reina gave him a strange look.

"I just started. I'm one of the younger students in my grade."

Ushio sighed again. She looked confused.

"What's wrong now?"

"It's nothing—" she scowled at him.

"I'm not old enough to know?" she challenged him. "Tsuyoshi doesn't care about my age. He just talks."

"Well I'm not Tsuyoshi, and I'm not your band leader, and I'm actually younger than him," Ushio replied.

"Then what's your problem?" she demanded. "You keep acting like nothing's wrong."

"I was just wondering if we should have gone that far," he sighed, not wanting to meet her eyes.

"So what?" was her reply. In surprise, Ushio sat up, forgetting that Reina's face was merely a few inches away from his own.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, slapping her hand over her forehead. Ushio gave a muffled groan, his hands over his face.

"Hey! Ushio!" banging on the door made them both turn their heads. "You all right?"

"Atsuya," Ushio muttered sliding out of his futon. "Get dressed and get out of here."

"Ushio?" the questioning voice shouted from the other side of the door. "I'm coming in."

"No! I'm fine! Nothing happened! I just fell on the floor!" he shouted, hastily grabbing his clothes off of the floor. He glanced over at Reina to see how she was, wondering how much more time he needed.

To his surprise, Reina was almost finished dressing. She was now trying to pull on her socks as quickly as possible.

"You sure?" Atsuya called out. "Maybe I should come in just in case—"

"I'm dressing, you idiot!" he shouted. "Don't come in!" He nodded over at the window and Reina easily opened it and hopped out. A faint _thud_ was heard below.

Worried and half-dressed, he rushed to the window and looked down. Reina looked up at him, grinned and waved before making her way down the street.

"I'm coming in!" the door slammed open and Atsuya ran into the room.

"You had to come in," Ushio crossed his arms and glared at his roommate.

"Why are you half-dressed?"

"I said I was dressing," he said coolly. "But you didn't seem to hear me and now busted into my room just to check up on me. Yes I'm still alive, there's no need to worry."

"Well…I'll go…outside now…yeah…that sounds good…I'll go outside…Bye!" he turned and ran out the door, remembering to close it at the last minute.

Ushio shut the window and leaned against it. He had been _so_ close in finding out what happened. _So _close.

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It was cold now. Winter was starting to kick in; snow was just starting to fall on the ground.

Another year had gone by…

I tried forgetting her, truly I did. I just couldn't. She really changed my life. And here was Kazuma, sitting across from me at the table, looking at me with sympathy and understanding.

He was the first one that I would retell this story to. When he first joined the band, I already knew that there would be trouble. He was just about the same age, around the same height, and a troubled mind.

I sighed deeply and turned my head so I was looking out the window. A woman and four men walked by the restaurant we were eating at.

The four men were a strange sight to see in Tokyo. The two shorter ones easily passed as teenage boys. They were twins from their looks, with a dull shade of red hair, small childish faces, and higher-pitched laughs. They were clearly foreigners.

The two older men were around the same height, but the shorter one was easily placed in the same category as Atsuya: acting like the leader, but actually following after someone else. He even looked like Atsuya, scruffy looking brown hair, clothing that screamed out lazy, and a beer can in his left hand. I chuckled inwardly; Atsuya just met his match.

The oldest man seemed to be talking to the girl, he reminded me of myself and Kazuma combined. He wore plain jeans and a light maroon colored sweater, something that Martin had told me that only I could pull of wearing and still look good. He looked the most mature out of the lot, his posture clearly stated his position in the group, but yet he let Atsuya-look-alike take the lead.

Now the woman, _she _looked _much_ more different from the other four. I could see that the others clearly gave her respect and (_almost)_ worship. She had long thin black hair, a smooth face, high cheekbones, gorgeous dark brown eyes, and a beautiful body to match.

She held her head high in pride, as if she didn't see the now-dirty snow surrounding her. Her walk was graceful and filled with dignity. She probably could pass as the Empress of Japan if the men didn't surround her and chatter like a regular group of teens.

_Reina_.

I looked back at her quickly, startled by the resemblance. She _did_ look like the girl that I had dumped several years ago. With the exception that she looked older and more mature.

The group stopped in front of the entrance of the restaurant, the leader raised his hand and motioned at the building. I saw the woman open her mouth, nod, and then laugh about something amusing that the other man had said.

"Ushio?" Kazuma asked, breaking my train of thought and pulling my attention back towards him.

"What is it?" I asked when I noticed that he seemed at loss for words.

"Well, it's…I just wanted to know…" he fidgeted as he spoke. He was clearly uncomfortable with his question.

I waited patiently, knowing that he was going to get over his nervousness and speak up.

"Well, I just wanted to know if you really did like her." There, he said it. I didn't even have to pause and think about the answer. But I did, knowing it would put him more at ease if I pretended to think about my answer.

"I did like her, she was everything that I was looking for in a woman. But she was too young at the time and—"

"Ushio?"

I stopped talking, it wasn't Kazuma who had been speaking, it was someone else…

Looking up, I noticed that the group I was watching outside had made their way into the restaurant. The man who I had thought looked like Atsuya had spoken.

It took me a second to realize who he was and how he knew my name. And he _wasn't_ one of Yin and Yang's fans.

* * *

**There, finished with Chapter 5, thanks for the wait everyone and thanks for the review!**

**edited 01/22/08**


	6. Return to Tokyo

**Chapter 6- Return to Tokyo**

Ushio could only sit there in surprise. The man in front of him was none other than the leader of the rival band.

Henry.

"Is that really you, Ushio?" Henry asked; there was no mocking tone evident in his voice.

"Henry." He said evenly.

"Wow. Nice to see you again," he grinned. He glanced over at Kazuma and his eyebrows rose in sudden confusion. "Who's the new kid?"

"This is Kazuma. He's the lead singer of our band," Ushio answered.

"Did you guys replace Atsuya, after finally realizing that his voice wasn't too good for singing?" Henry asked, chuckling.

Ushio frowned at his comment, wondering whether to take it as an insult or a compliment.

"Yes. That's right." Though he tried to sound neutral, his voice came out cold.

"Henry," the taller man behind him put his hand on his shoulder. Henry turned and glanced at him in confusion.

Tsuyoshi.

"Oh. Sorry about that. Can't help myself," He scratched his head in apology. Ushio nodded silently to accept his apology.

"We're sitting at the table behind you, so if you need to talk with us…we'll be there," Tsuyoshi said in his calm and peaceful voice.

"Fine." Ushio turned back to his food and tried to make an effort to eat it. But Kazuma saw him struggling with every bite.

"Is that…them?" he asked in a low voice. Ushio glanced up at him and nodded silently. "Then where's…Re—I mean…that girl?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. Kazuma glanced over Ushio's shoulder and noticed a girl taking a seat next to Tsuyoshi. Her back was facing Ushio's, completely oblivious to his existence.

OoOoOo

Ushio definitely noticed her entrance, though she didn't notice him. He started to turn his head, but stopped himself at the last second; his eyes returning back to his uneaten plate.

The other members of the band didn't tell her that he was sitting in the booth next to them. They both seemed deeply immersed in their conversation. Something about a concert that they were going to be in next week.

That was fine.

He didn't need to be distracted. Not now. Not _ever_.

He glanced once more at his uneaten plate. There was no _way_ he was going to finish this now.

"Check Please," he beckoned the waitress. Kazuma looked at him worriedly.

"We're leaving. We can't leave the others alone for this long. They might try to trash the place," he tried to reassure the young singer. The waitress handed him the check and he paid for it so quickly Kazuma didn't see the price of the meal. He stood up and beckoned him.

"Yeah…okay," Kazuma took one last look at the band behind him and quickly followed him out.

OoOoOo

"Hey Ushio. Can I talk to you?" Atsuya asked from behind the door. Once he and Kazuma had returned to the apartment, Ushio had locked himself up in his room.

When Ushio didn't answer, he opened the door slowly, and peeked in.

He saw Ushio sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. His arms were wrapped around his knees. The lingering smell of smoke filled the air.

"Kazuma said you met up with Henry this afternoon," he sat down in front of his friend.

"Yeah…"

"Meet up with her?"

"She was there."

"Oh."

"I hope she forgot all about me," Ushio tried to look happy, but Atsuya could tell it was crushing him painfully.

"You didn't _do_ anything to her," he reminded him. "It was just an accident."

"An accident!" he exploded. "If I didn't _try_ at that _moment_ to break up with her, it would have never _happened_!"

"She doesn't blame you for it."

"How would you know?" he demanded. "How _would_ you know?"

"Because I remember her saying that she was upset that you didn't visit her in the hospital. Didn't even send her a bunch of flowers or a card. Nothing."

"I was trying to stay away from her. She shouldn't have associated with me. She should have found out that I was trying to stay away from her. She shouldn't have associated with me. She should have found someone her own age."

"But she wanted _you_," Atsuya pointed out. "She wanted _you_ and nobody else."

"Only because she was too preoccupied with Henry and Tsuyoshi's band."

"You keep making up excuses. Maybe it's time you forgave yourself. It's been _years_." With that, Atsuya stood up and left the room, leaving Ushio in the darkness.

OoOoOo

"Hey Reina. You're up early," Henry stepped down into the kitchen only to see her cooking breakfast for everyone.

The band had moved over to a large apartment/condo/house. It was a good establishment. It provided the peace they needed away from Kyoto and their loud crowds.

A bit odd for Kyoto, since it was supposed to be a peaceful area, all those shines and temples and all. But it didn't bother the teenagers in that area. The concerts were just as loud as in Tokyo.

"I just thought I'd be nice for once," she smiled, waving a spatula in the air. "Have to make breakfast sometime. Tsuyoshi always makes it."

"Awww…you're so sweet!" Henry cooed, darting to her side and playfully hugging her.

"Gah! Let go!" she squealed, laughing at the same time.

"Henry, Reina will burn herself if you keep doing that," Tsuyoshi remarked as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Ruin a man's fun," Henry pouted as he stuck his hands in his pockets and left the kitchen. Tsuyoshi smiled.

"Having fun, Reina?" he asked.

"Oh, yes! Thanks for asking!" she exclaimed.

"Do you need help?" he asked, wrinkling his nose slightly as a burning scent wafted towards him.

"Please," she whispered. "I didn't want to tell Henry."

"Good. I wanted to speak to you as well," he reached around her and took the spatula out of her hands. "Just flip this over right now."

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked as she watched Tsuyoshi do all of the cooking.

"Ushio." She froze.

"I don't want to talk about that," she shook her head. He looked down at her.

"We have to," he answered. "You've been holding it in for too long."

"No," she shook her head like a stubborn little child.

"Reina." He turned off the stove and turned her around to face him. Reina dutifully turned away from his stern gaze.

"I know you saw him at the restaurant yesterday. You lost your shine after that. Old wounds like that aren't healed until you decide it's ready to heal."

"There's nothing wrong with me!" she protested, struggling in his grip.

"Reina. You. Will. Listen. To. Me." He grabbed her chin and tilted it up so she was looking into his eyes. He saw her eyes flick away automatically.

"He's not important," she shook her head.

"Reina!" she flinched as he shouted her name. She pushed him away and ran out of the kitchen.

OoOoOo

Ushio was sitting in the restaurant that he and Kazuma had been sitting in the day before. This time, he received a table outside. He watched the anxious shoppers and tourists mill around as they shopped.

Yes he was crazy, deciding to take an outside seat at the beginning of winter. It was starting to get cold, even though the sun was up and shining.

Seeing winter come again made him think of _her_. Reina. It _had_ been too long. Without thinking, he lit a cigarette, but just let it smoke, not really caring to use it at all.

He remembered everything about her. Her sweet voice. Her smooth face. Her sleek black hair. Her body figure. Her—

"Ushio?"

'_Speak of the Devil,'_

The girl of his dreams was standing on the other side of the sidewalk, looking at him curiously.

"Is that you?"

'_I love you.'_

edited 10/05/08

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